There are two situations where you probably don't need our help, and there are two situations where you might.

If you're lucky, everything's going fine and you're making your goals.

This is called being on an "Even Keel." And unless you want to raise the bar, you probably don't need our help.

Of course, you could be wrong, and you may think you're doing better than you really are.

Unless you're willing to question your assumptions, we're probably not the right ones to call here either.

On the other hand, if you're like many business owners today, you may have a gap between "where you are" and "where you want to be" with respect to sales. These are the two instances where we can help.

The first is where you're doing okay, but you want to do better.

We can help here.

The other case is where you're struggling - either a little or a lot - to reach your goals.

We can help here, too.

These kinds of gaps - or differences between "where you are" and "where you want to be" - can exist with regard to any business goal including sales, profitability, close rate, market share, ROI or even stock price. But it can also apply to subjective criteria such as your company's perception in the market, marketing performance or account retention. Ask yourself:

• Are you achieving your revenue objectives?
• Are you on track to achieve your stretch objectives?
• Are you achieving your goals for margin?
• Are you achieving your revenue objectives when you need to achieve them?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no," call us. We can help.

The hype around Marketing 2.0 is off the charts. Search, AI, content, inbound, social, email, and all manner of new technology promise riches beyond imagination. Unfortunately, for most companies it's a big waste of time and money.

We can't go into all the reasons here, but the problem is that most marketing tools and techniques today are scams, and you're the victim. Consider just a few examples:

• Companies spend tons of money trying the get on page #1 of Google's search results. But ask yourself: Why are Google's search results even pagenated? Amazon's aren't. Facebook isn't. Neither is LinkedIn. It's a contrived shortage that forces you to bid up the price.
• Of what use is a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)? To most salespeople, MQLs are just junk.
• If you use metrics to figure out what's working and what's not working, by definition you've already failed. Measuring failure does not lead to success. Having the right strategy and executing it well, however, do.
• And thinking that you can offload your risk with a pay-for-performance program is just delusional. Ask yourself: If they could really do it, what do they need you for?

The issue isn't that these techniques can't work, it's that the problem is complex. Some vendors claim competence in their piece of the solution, but they point to someone else who's responsible for other critical-path items. Others, such as the performance-based vendors, are simply selling cheap insurance; it's not there when you actually need it. And now you're out of money and time.

Call us. We can help.

The advent of digital marketing and the death of formal sales training have turned the gap between Marketing and Sales into chasm - where Marketing teams produce unqualified leads, and Sales teams can't sell their way out of a paper bag.

Consider the following:

• Marketing teams ask for budget to pay for all manner of promotion. But if any of it actually worked, why is the turnover rate among Marketing staff over 300%???
• Sales teams that complain about the quality of leads (or the lack thereof) are no better. Why else do you think the average duration of a rep today is barely two months longer than the protected base salary?
• And if you try to solve the problem by hiring a CRO, aren't they're still going to look to you to set the right strategy and positioning? But if you knew what you were doing, wouldn't you have met your goal already?

The worst of it is that besides a shear lack of competence, most employees are only in it for as long as you pay them. And then you're left holding the bag.

Call us. We have dozens of experts in every aspect of Sales and Marketing who can help you reach your goals.

Many salespeople today have been schooled in the "numbers game" theory of sales, also known as "SW3" (i.e. "Some will, some won't, so what?"). The problem for the business owner, though, is that it accepts failure. And all too often, that's what it delivers.

Ask yourself:

• How committed to your success is a saleperson who can easily get another job?
• How much time and money do you invest in actual sales training, as opposed to product training? And do you think there's a difference?
• Do you find yourself looking for rainmakers, or do you actually know how to create them?

Turnover among salespeople today is even higher than it is with marketing professionals - because every business owner is looking for the same thing: competence. But it isn't that simple.

Call us. We can turn an underperforming sales function into a sales engine.